Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Highlights of Saturday’s newspapers:
The Financial Express:
--The country's gas supply situation continues to remain uncertain as exploration attempts by the international oil companies (IOCs) have failed to confirm gas presence at the shallow water in the sea, officials said.
--Economic analysts Friday said the current account deficit, leading to depreciation of Bangladesh Taka and fuelling double-digit inflation, is one of the biggest challenges for the country's economy.
--Bangladesh and the United States are likely to sign soon a trade and investment cooperation deal to facilitate increased US investment in this South Asian country, especially in its energy sector, officials said on Friday.
The Daily Star:
--Mentioning that Bangladesh would not be harmed by the 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydroelectric project, India now suggests that Bangladesh could acquire a stake in it by making an investment and getting electricity in exchange.
--Bangladesh has the potential to create over 2 lakh direct and 50,000 indirect jobs and earn $5 billion in foreign currency per year in the next decade through outsourcing business.
--At least 15 persons were killed and 759 injured in political violence throughout the country last month, rights organisation Odhikar revealed yesterday.
The New Age:
--Encroachers have gobbled up 43 of the 54 canals that once crisscrossed through Dhaka city interconnecting the four rivers surrounding it, resulting in the destruction of almost the entire natural sewage system of the city.
--The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the ministries and the divisions to follow the rules of business before submitting any proposal to the prime minister for approval.
--The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti president, Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, on Friday warned the government that the situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts could turn ‘restive’ again if the 1997 peace deal was not implemented in full.
BBN/SSR/AD-03Dec11-10:55 am (BST)